Meaning & Analysis
A person may be included in one’s prayers (the 'Paternoster', or Lord’s Prayer) but will never be counted among those with whom one shares deepest beliefs or personal loyalty (the 'creed').
Insights
Distinction Between Duty and Belief
The proverb distinguishes between outward acts of goodwill or obligation (praying for someone) and the inward acceptance or endorsement of their character, values, or actions. It suggests that one may fulfill social or religious duty toward a person without embracing or trusting them.
Boundaries of Trust
It implies the existence of emotional or ideological boundaries, where civility and benevolence are extended, but genuine trust, camaraderie, or personal endorsement is withheld. The creed symbolizes an inner circle of conviction, from which some are consciously excluded.
Tolerance Without Acceptance
The phrase expresses the capacity to tolerate or even wish well to others at a distance, while drawing a line at actual acceptance into one’s core principles or community of belief.
Historical Symbolism
The Paternoster (Lord's Prayer) and the Creed (Apostles' Creed) represent, respectively, universal Christian prayer and the formal statement of Christian faith. In historical context, the distinction underscores the difference between acts performed out of universal charity or ritual and deeper, doctrinal allegiance—reflecting tensions in both personal and ecclesiastical relationships in early modern England.
Literary and Cultural Resonance
The proverb appears frequently in Renaissance literature, highlighting the common social reality that not all who receive our public goodwill are welcomed into our private trust. This tension between external civility and internal reservation resonates in works addressing hypocrisy, loyalty, and the limits of reconciliation.
Psychological Dimensions
Psychologically, the proverb illuminates mechanisms of compartmentalization—how people navigate the demands of social harmony and personal integrity. It acknowledges the necessity of separating obligatory benevolence from authentic affinity, reflecting both pragmatic wisdom and subtle wariness.
Rhetorical Devices
Antithesis
The proverb relies on sharp contrast between the inclusive gesture of the Paternoster and the exclusive affirmation of the Creed, heightening its rhetorical force and clarity.
Religious Allusion
References to foundational Christian texts (the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed) infuse the statement with cultural authority and moral weight, making the message resonate beyond its literal context.
Parallel Structure
The symmetrical phrasing ('in my Paternoster...in my creed') reinforces the logical separation and memorability of the contrast.
Transcription
Quotations
(in my Pater noster in dede, But be sure, he shall neuer).
(Thou maist be in my pater noster in deede. But surely thou shalt neuer).
[He] may in my Pater-noster bee, but neuer in my Creede.
Al your villanies about that peece of seruice, as perfectly known to some of my friends yet liuing as their Pater noster, who curse the time you ever came in their creed.
(in my paternoster indeed, Be sure he shall never be).
[Flatterers] are . . the Common-wealths Wolues; put them in your Pater-noster, let them neuer come in your Creed: pray for them, but trust them no more than theeues.
He may come into my Pater noster, but never into my Creed.
Thou maist be in my Paternoster, but shalt never come into my Creed.
Cross References
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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